Playoff Preview

 Last week I promised a more in depth preview of the NHL playoffs. Well, It starts tonight so the following is how I think the first round will go. 

Boston-Carolina

This series is going to be much better then people realize. Yes, the Hurricanes destroyed the season series with the Bruins. Yes, They out scored them 16-1. But this is the playoffs. Things change. Carolina is going into this series with their 2 back up goalies. Both of which have never played in the playoffs. Raanta has not faced the bruins since 2016. Not that that matters for much but its something. In terms of the games inside the game, things like powerplays, faceoffs, last change. I think both teams have ups and downs in these areas. It is widely known the struggles of the Boston powerplay but i think the in game coaching of Cassidy will be a bigger factor then some think. Patrice Bergeron is the best faceoff man in the league once again and that will come in handy for those late game wins in the defensive zone. 

Could this be Bergeron's last hoorah for the black and gold? My personal thoughts are that it will depend on how this post season goes. If Boston makes a deep run and either wins the cup or losses in the ECF or even the cup final then I say he comes back. If they get handled in the first round or even a short series second round I think he hangs them up. Sadly, as much as I love the Bruins. I think their window has closed and it may be a while before the cup is back on Causeway St. 

Toronto-Tampa Bay

Everyone who watches hockey as much as I do is foaming at the mouth for this series. The 2 time defending champion Lightning against the on fire during the regular season Maple Leafs. Toronto fans are in full playoff mode again. "This is our year" "Matthews is a god". There is a reason Tampa has won the last 2 years. It has been 18 years since the Leafs have won a series. 2004! Toronto may be the higher seed but it will take a lot for them to beat the Lightning. Tampa Bay is entering this post season actually having a healthy core of Stamkos, Kucherov and company and if you think that they are just gonna let the hopes and dreams of a city starved for success dictate when their summer starts well then fans are in for a rude awakening. 

Florida-Washington

I have said in conversations that I didn't want the bruins to play Florida in the first round. President trophy winners. First trip to the post season as the favorites since 1996. So many years of missing the playoffs. They have finally put it all together it seems. I think they are gonna steam roll the first round. Shock everyone with their skill, speed and hockey sense. But then that's it. They will explode in the first round and not have anything left for a deep run. That's ok. They have built this team for success for future years and that is what they will have. This year however I see them going one and done. Which when you think about it is more sad then normal as this has got to be the last shot at a winner for Jumbo Joe Thornton. He is the new Ray Bourque. Guy plays close to 20 years and has come close a couple times. He deserves a winner. 

New York Rangers- Pittsburgh

For years the Rangers have been an after thought in the league. Good but not great. This year could be different. Between the scoring explosion from Kreider or the rough veteran leadership of Reeves the Rangers seem to have put together what could be a solid playoff run. Pittsburgh on the other hand is i think on the downward slide. You cant take away the talent and skills of the core 3. Letang, Malkin and Crosby but are they enough to keep the Penguins in the cup conversation? I don't think so. Those 3 have maybe at most 2-4 years left and for the team to commit to building around those guys for that short of a window doesn't seem like a good plan. This could be the last we see of the Penguins dynasty of the 2010s.

Colorado-Nashville

Colorado is the odds on favorite to win the cup. They have almost the complete package of things needed to win. They have grit. Youth. Goaltending. Pests. Coaching. All of it. I have them picked to win the west and play for the cup. Unfortunately  Nashville just doesn't have what is needed to stop them. This one could be a very quick and ugly series. 

Minnesota-St. Louis

Marc-Andre Fleury has missed the playoffs only once in his entire career.  Prior to the trade deadline it looked as though that streak would be stopped. But the hockey gods understood their job and come deadline time the flower was sent to Minnesota. Add his solid net minding to an already potent and fast offense and you have the set up for what could be a long playoff run. On the other side of the puck. St. Louis is no push over. They have a tough hard nose team who always find ways to dig down deep for a win. In all the first round match ups in both the east and west this series is probably the most evenly matched and the hardest to pick a winner.

Calgary-Dallas

The Flames have flown under the radar this season to the point of being first in their division. They have an odd mix of talent. Definitely enough to get them deep into the playoffs. Dallas on the other hand has had an amazing season from Joe Pavelski. They signed him for cheap money and he has more then earned his pay. But is he enough to get the Stars over the hump? Sadly i don't think so. The flames are to talented and have much more star power no pun intended. 

Edmonton-LA

I will bet Wayne Gretzky is praying TNT doesn't pick up one of these games. This one is shaping up to be a great series. Will this be the year Connor McDavid finally wins a round? Will Dustin Brown have one last moment in the sun before calling it a career? This series has so many intriguing story lines. It's hard to pin point just one of them. This will be a fast moving high scoring series that will no doubt have a lot of pushing, shoving and general dislike for one another. I do however think that Edmonton is the far superior team but if recent history has taught us anything it's that anything can happen in the playoffs. 

That's it. That's all i got. I hope some people agree but i hope more people disagree. If you disagree please make that known. I would love a good back and forth. With the success of the regular season could this finally the year that the cup goes back to Canada? The 3 Canadian teams in the playoffs are all high seeds and have what it takes to win. But of the 3, Calgary is the only one not snake bitten over the last few seasons. Toronto as everyone has seen cant get out of their own way in the first round. Edmonton has the best player in the NHL and still cant win a round. Could that change this year? Lets find out. IT'S PLAYOFF TIME!!!!

 

Playoffs

 Its that time of year again. The NHL playoffs are upon us. While the regular season still has a couple games left, Most of the first round matchups have been set and we are ready to go. The Bruins baring anything crazy and unforeseen will face the Hurricanes in the first round. Some might think this is not a good match up for Boston. I can see that point. Carolina went 3-0 against them outscoring the bruins 16-1 in those 3 games. Some might say that is a bad omen for a playoff series but you have to take into account a few factors. First, In one of those games the Tuukka experiment was still in full swing and he let in 5 goals. Second, The teams haven't met since the trade deadline. In one of the game Boston was with out Bergeron and Marchand. I am not saying all these things mean that Boston is primed to just steam roll the hurricanes but these things should be considered. Now you also have to add in the fact that Carolina's Starting goalie and the only netminder on their roster with playoff experience is hurt and not sue to return until at least mid series if at all in round 1. That would leave the hurricanes with career back up Antti Rannta and young rookie Pyotr Kochetkov the latter of which has only played in 3 NHL games in his short stint. All these things point to good news for the Bruins. Right? Well before we start gassing up the duck boats you need to remember that Carolina still has a very dangerous offence. Powered by Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov. They can move the puck very well as a team and will take a deficit and turn it in to a lead in the blink of an eye. Should Boston make it past the first round it would almost certainly mean a matchup with the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers.

One other first round matchup in the east i wanted to talk about is the potential series of the Leafs and Lightning. Why is this one note worthy? For the simple fact that It will further prove that Toronto is either cursed or just plain not good. They have all this noise around them about being the best and this is their year. Matthews scored 60 this year. Their powerplay is deadly good. Guess what? Tampa Bay is the 2 time defending champs. They are not some team who just snuck into the playoffs by stroke of luck. They belong in the post season. If Leafs fans think they will just breeze into the next round then oh man they are more delusional then i give them credit for.

I know this was short post but i just wanted to get some early thoughts out there. Once the playoff matchups are official I will have a post that breaks down what i think about each match up in both the east and west. 

Thanks for reading. 

Busy weekend in sports

 This past weekend had a lot of good things coming out of the sports world. It was opening weekend for baseball. The Masters tournament took place and the NHL continued its blazing path to the postseason. I wanted to touch on all or most of those things in this post. 

Starting with Baseball. After spending most of the winter not sure if there would even be a baseball season this year we were finally able to crack a beer, Eat some peanuts, Do the 7th inning stretch and watch some baseball. Opening weekend is always fun and interesting. There are new faces in new places and there is always some getting used to new line ups. With the extremely shortened spring training this year the first few weeks of the season should provide some steep learning curves. The Red Sox have come into the season with the same questions they typically have this time of year. What will the bullpen be able to do for them. I think this weekend was a decent indicator that they may not be the big issue everyone thinks. The starting pitching on the other hand that is a question. Just based on the limited watching i did over the weekend. Admittedly i was more tuned into the Masters. The Sox bullpen seemed to plug the holes left by the starters. Will that change as the season goes on? I'm certain it will. But for this opening series they looked like they can handle it. One other notable thing i noticed was the amount of Sox fans absolutely hitting the panic button on Trevor Story. The shiny new 100 million dollar second baseman went a sad 1-9 with a walk. The one hit being a double. The knock on him is having played the first part of his career in Colorado, Curve balls weren't a thing to him. Alas on the road he suffered from what i will call Pedro Cerrano syndrome. He cant hit the curve. That was evident this weekend as Yankee pitching just obliterated him with curve after curve and Story could not catch up to them. Hopefully he will spend some time in the cages as being at Fenway will be a drastic change from the thin air of Coors Field. Story did however look very comfortable at his new position of Second base. One of the questions about his signing was how would he react to being moved across the diamond to second. He handled the transition well making no errors. While Xander Bogerts did have one error at short. Some have said that with Story signing such a big deal this offseason to come to Boston that that could spell the end of Xander's time here. I think there is still a lot to be determined with that and for now the Red Sox and their fans should all be happy with the fact that they have 2 young talented players in the middle of their infield and that's often a luxury teams don't have. If both players hit as well as they have been known to then i think Sox fans might be in for a decent summer.

Thursday began the 86th Master Tournament from Augusta National Golf club. 91 players made up the field with 51 making the cut come Saturday. Now for those that know me this is the one golf tournament i will watch from start to finish. I love everything about it. The course, The stories, The challenge. Everything. One day i will hopefully be able to attend a day in person. There were many story lines from the weekend. For me the main one was Tiger Woods. 18 months ago he was involved in a horrific car crash. Doctor's told him he would probably never play competitive golf again and there was at the time a slight chance he wouldn't even walk right after. Fast forward to last Sunday. Tiger showed up to Augusta and took a practice round. He walked the course. Said he felt good after. He did another of these practice rounds on Tuesday. Again said he felt good. He announced Wednesday that he would play in the Masters. And play he did. He came out on Thursday and shot a 1 over 71. Unfortunately that is all the highlights i can tell you about. Tiger ended the weekend shooting a Career worst 78 at the Masters. Watching him over the tournament you could tell every step he took was giving him immense pain. When he would crouch down to read a green for a putt he was not getting near a low as he used to. It showed in his putts as he had 4-3 putts and 1-4 putt over the weekend. Something i can never remember him doing. After his final round he was asked how he felt and what the plan was going forward. He did commit to playing at ST Andrews for the British open as that is his all time favorite course but we also confirmed he will never be able to play a full time schedule again.  What this means for the 5 time Masters Champion and former world number 1 golfer is that at this stage of his career he may only be more of a ticket grab then anything else. Which in my opinion is quite sad. 

Rounding out my weekend of sports viewing was the continued race for the playoffs in the NHL. The Bruins had 2 very winnable games over the weekend and managed to only win 1. The powerplay is very much feeling the absence of David Pastrnak as it has now gone 0-16 since he has been out. If they hope to climb higher in the final standings they are going to need to figure out a way to supplement his production on the PP. I intend to have a more in depth playoff preview in a couple weeks once the field is set. But for now i will leave you with this. If the Bruins plan to make a dep run they are going to need a lot more from the third D pair and also one of the 2 goalies is going to have to finally emerge as the guy they can ride for 8 weeks in May and June. 

I want to say thank you to everyone who reached out to me after reading my comeback post last week. weather you come here for a different view on sports that you don't hear on the radio or TV. Or if you come here to support me and my non sense i appreciate it. If ever there was a time for more people to find something to bring them together this would be it. Please share the blog page to your own Social media if you want. More followers means i can do more with everything. 

Thank you all! 

Remember me??

 Hello to all my loyal followers. Yes its me. I know its been forever since my last post. Actually less then a hockey season, My last post was for opening week in the NHL. There have been a few reasons for my absence and just for clarity this is going to be a long post. Sports stuff will be at the bottom so if you want to skip this part fine. The main reason for my absence was timing. I took a good role at work and the timing wasn't great to be at work, come home and make a decent sports blog. Then that led to some depression of not being able to do what has been a passion of mine and that's talking sports. So I took a break. I watched games without worrying about what I was going to say or if I would get a post out in time. For the first time in a while I went back to just watching. Fast forward to early this year. I hit what I am calling a very dark spot in life. I hated my self. I hated my body image. Getting older. Not being where I thought I should be. Wondering if I was good enough for my kids, My wife, My friends and family. It took a lot out of me. I didn't even enjoy watching sports anymore cuz I wasn't in the field anymore. I wasn't working at NBC sports Boston, I wasn't at the Sports hub. But even through all that I wanted to still talk sports. So, In late February I decided id start climbing out. I have a lot of good people around me. Some that probably don't read this. Some that do. But im going to thank everyone of them. Starting with my wife and kids. They have always been there for me and its still the most amazing feeling coming home from work and having my 6 year old say hi dad. Having my 4 year old ask me who the bruins are playing. I know I haven't been the best husband but through it all my wife has stuck by me and I can not express into words how much that means to me. Next I want to thank as loud as I can someone who has become the best sounding board and is one the most genuine people walking gods green earth. Charlie. My introduction to you started with my friendship with your daughter. From there we were texting about BBQ smokers and recipes. Then it changed to the Bruins. And then when my depression hit hardest you were one of the first people to text me make sure first I was ok and then give me advice, An ear, A laugh. Anything. I owe so much of this comeback to you and i promise one day I will find a way to make that up to you. Next is Mike. Mike we have been friends since high school and have played hockey on the same team or some summer showcase together since forever. You sent me a random text one day during one of the harder times I was going through. And simply asked "Hey want to skate" What you might not have known was that at that time I had not skated in close to 18 months. Im pretty sure the last time I did was when I coached a Rockport. So having that back in my life just set the fire going. And is the sole reason I am in such a better place now. That simple hour on the ice with the boys. Doing what I've loved since I was 3 years old was the perfect medicine. Not to put to fine a point on it, I think you may have saved my life. I love you with every fiber of my being for that. Ok, I know there are a lot of other people who have reached out and said if i need anything to call them and I know im forgetting someone as most of these things tend to do. But quickly just to name a few. Angel, Jen, Aaron, Chris, Ryan, Matt, Jackie, Larry, Frank. Again I know im missing a few people and im truly sorry for that. Most likely they don't read my blogs anyways haha.

I know that's not really what the few people who come to read this blog come for but I really needed to get that off my chest and out in the open. If anyone reading this ever needs help or someone to talk to about their own problems i am always here. Reach out VIA text if you have my number or DM me on FB either on the blog FB page or my own. Everyone needs to know there is someone who will just listen and not pass judgment. 

Ok now let's get to the reason that all 7 of you read this blog. SPORTSSSSSS

Starting with the Greatest weekend in sports. The Masters. Tomorrow 91 golfers will descend upon Augusta National and try their shot at winning the Green jacket. I have always said that the course at Augusta is the most beautiful course on the planet. The pageantry of it all just makes for a great weekend of golf. But Tuesday morning the golf world got the best news it has had in a long time. 5 Time masters champion, Former number 1 in the world golfer Eldrick Tiger Woods is going to compete. Now some might ask why this is big news. Especially those that don't really follow golf. But 18 months ago Tiger was in a major car accident. His legs were broke or at least damaged and he said shortly after he would never be able to walk a course with out pain or play competitive golf. Essentially retiring. But thanks to modern medicine and obviously his millions of dollars he and his medical team have got him back to a point where he is pain free enough to walk the grounds of Augusta for 4 days. I've always been a tiger fan. But in hi absence from the game i have come to enjoy other players. Im not saying tiger will win. But his decision to play and the determination he has sure does make it a very good story and it makes for a great weekend. 

As I mentioned my new role at work in the beginning of this post I left out a person who has sort of rekindled my feelings for baseball. I know on this blog many many posts ago i covered a Paw-sox game. I've always liked baseball but haven't really watched much in recent years. Well my co worker Dan Johnson has changed that. He is a baseball fan through and through. And a die hard sox fan. We have been talking baseball all through the lockout and now i have watched or at least followed every spring training game for the sox. So I think you may be seeing a slight uptick in my posts about our boys of summer. So thank you Dan. 

The NHL season is down the final month. The teams near the bottom or at the bottom are slowly starting to be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Lets be honest, Some of those teams have been out since November. A few surprise teams that are either in or unless they implode will be in would include the Bruins and the Leafs. The Leafs have been one of the hottest teams all season. As they have been for a few years. But need I remind Bruins fans everywhere that the leafs always die in the first round. The way its shaping up right now it look like the Bruins could end up playing the leafs in the first round for the first time since 2013. I doubt the series will end up like it did then as both teams have a much different look now. But hey I can dream right? Another surprise from this season is the Florida Panthers. Led by Jonathan Huberdeau and his 102 points (as of this post) they have very quickly become the favorite in the east. If anyone watches hockey as much as I do you should recall that 26 years ago the Panthers went all the way to the cup finals where they lost to the newly moved Colorado Avalanche. Looking across the standings and having seen them play this season, There is a real shot that that could end up being the finals this year as well. The Avs are having an incredible season led by Cale Makar. He is probably one of if not the best defenseman in the league. He will lead that team for years to come and be the anchor on the blue line that Colorado has been looking for since the days of Adam Foote. With arenas back at full capacity this years Stanley Cup playoffs will have that loud home ice advantage feel again and that's exactly what these teams have been needing.

I am going to save Football and basketball for another post. I need to get some thoughts together on the NBA and there is just to much for this already lengthy post to put anything about the NFL yet. I may do a blog on just the NFL off season. That being said Tom Brady is not retiring and that's amazing. Im not ready to have a football season without him. No matter who he is playing for. 

I know this post was long and if you have made it to here and read the whole thing then I truly thank you. If you skipped the beginning and came right to the sports that's fine also. At least you gave the main part of this a read. I will try to post every other week if not more. But for now I just wanted to thank people, Welcome my self back. And hopefully bring in some new people on this sports journey. Im hoping to have the podcast back soon as well. I've been looking into some ideas and it might lead to a Vlog instead of a podcast. But that's still being planned. For now just give me 10-12 minutes of your time to read my rants and talk sports. As always there is the blog Facebook page where you can comment on what you think about my takes. It is always where we can interact and have a good back and forth if you have a differing opinion. If its good and its productive I will put it in a post. 

Thank you all again. Its good to be back.

Brad

The Boys are back

 There is a song that usually gets played right after thanksgiving and right up until new years. However the timing of it is all wrong. Right now it is "The most wonderful time of the year". ITSSSSS HOCKEY SEASONNNNN!!!!!!! Time for family fights about who is better. Friendly wars about which play from last night was the silkiest. From 10/12 until sometime in mid June we will have hockey at least 4 nights a week! I promised and NHL Preview and this is where I've come to shatter dreams, piss people off, and find a few random hills to die on. So without further dudes (name the reference) in the words of Joker. HERE WE GO. 

Eastern Conference

Metropolitan Division

Pittsburgh, Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, Rangers, Islanders, Philadelphia

Finally the return of normal divisions. Last year the make shift divisions made no sense and eventually the cup final ended up being 2 eastern conference teams. But that's in the past and now we are back to 82 games and normal divisions. 

This one is always tough because there really is only 3 teams that ever make any real noise in terms of a playoff push. Pittsburgh for as much as you hate them always seems to find its way to the top of this division or at least in the playoffs. I don't expect much to change their. They didn't loose anyone of real value in the expansion draft and they have a healthy Malkin and Crosby for at least the start of the season. Goaltending may be an issue for them but again they are really fighting off 2-3 other teams. The hurricanes are a joke and ROD the BOD cant fix them. The Blue jackets fired Torettela in the offseason and frankly that's stupid because he may not have made them a cup contender but he made them relevant even after the whole Patrik Laine fiasco. New Jersey is attempting to re tool by signing Dougie Hamilton to a monster deal this off season and they didn't trade Subban. At least not yet. I don't think they sniff a playoff spot but they could be heading in the right direction. The rangers didn't get worse but they certainly didn't get better. They signed Ryan Reeves in the off season for some added muscle which will be good but he's going to be out some time after that injury in the pre season. They also have refused to name a captain instead naming 6 alternates. Come on boys you need one vocal leader and Krider is it. I think im just going to skip right over the flyers because well come on really? I saw an article the other day about how the Capitols are trending down and so many people lost their mind. But why? That's not wrong. They did not get any younger and they didn't add anything of note in the off season. Ovi is getting older, Oshie is heading towards the back 9 and Backstrom is well, He hasn't been good for a while now. That's not to say ovechkin isn't going to compete for the scoring title but that alone will not put them in the playoffs. Finally, The islanders. Arguably the best team coming out of last year with so much talent and poise. They signed Zdeno Chara which will add a lot to that back end. While they did lose eberle to the Kraken they didn't get worse. I look for them to lead or at least compete with Pittsburgh for this division crown.

Atlantic Division

Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Tampa Bay

Its always fun writing about this division because unless something drastic happens there are 2 teams from it that make the playoffs anyone else just barley will sneak in to that third spot. Ill save the obvious for last. Buffalo will be lucky to win 20 games this year. That entire franchise should be relegated to the AHL maybe even lower. All the way from ownership right on down to the team it is the definition of a dumpster fire. They have one of the best players in the world in their building and they essentially ran him out of town. Eichel will not play another game for the Sabers. Read my post about training camp to understand why. Detroit won fair much better. They have a budding superstar who is refusing to get the Covid vaccine and will most likely be deemed in eligible. I have thoughts on that but this isn't the post for it. The panthers are getting back Aaron Ekblad after a horrific injury last year and even though they lost the NHL's raining iron man in Keith Yandle, they did sign Jumbo Joe which will for nothing else add much needed veteran leadership to a slightly younger team. Montreal made the cup finals last year (god that hurt to type). That was the biggest fluke of the season. They were not a cup contender, they had the benefit of not playing the American teams until the third round of the playoffs so yea they shocked some people. Once Tampa figured out their game it was very quick work for them to repeat as cup champions. Ottawa is probably going to be near the bottom again as well, They have a lot to figure out. Toronto should be decent this year at least until the first round of the playoffs. They have so much talent but like the oilers they just cant seem to put it all together. Tampa Bay will no doubt be top in the league again. They have a full year from Stamkos and Kucherov and they have added Corey Perry who should make them a little better then that bottom 9. Boston didn't lose a single important piece to the kraken. They did lose David Krejci. Now some might say that's fine. I think we will miss him more then we know come playoffs. They signed Hall which is already in the cards when he came here and for the first time in a long time someone other then Tuukka Rask will be the starting goalie. Again this isn't the post for the conversation but ill just leave it at its the right choice. 

Western Conference

Central Division

Arizona, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, Winnipeg

As we move on to the West, there are a number of good teams in this conference that just need to find someone that can get them over that hump weather it be a player, coach, GM. Most of the teams in this conference have 1 of the 3 but need that additional piece. Arizona is the exception. They are so bad that their own arena decided that they are not going to renew the lease for the team making them essentially homeless after this season. Now before everyone thinks this means they are going to move the team, there is already plans in place to move the team back to Scottsdale where they played before moving to the Gala River arena. So don't get your hopes up of seeing them move. I think however they saw the dwindling fan base and decided that they needed to make a splash. They did this by bringing back the best logo and jersey in NHL History. The Kachina!!! Its back full time as the home and away sweater. They will wear the old red coyote logo for 9 games as an alternate jersey. Chicago gets their captain back this season after he missed all of last year with a rare and random disease. That's going to help the offense a lot. They also went out and got them selves a Vezna winning goalie. Marc-Andre Flury. If you haven't heard this story yet the cliff notes version is he was traded and never told about it. He found out on the 12th green when he phone started blowing up cuz he was trending on twitter. If i were him im firing everyone on my PR team. Also shame on Vegas for not giving him  heads up either after he led you to 2 conference finals, 1 cup final and is the reigning vezna winner. One more interesting factoid. The Blackhawks have missed the playoffs in 3 of the last 4 seasons and have not made it past the first round since they won the cup in 2015. Marc-Andre Flury has never missed the playoffs in his entire NHL Career. So they have that going for them. Colorado will once again be a top contender in the west. They have a great lineup top to bottom and with Cale Makar on the back end they have one of the top defenses in the league. They may very well win the west. Dallas is one of those teams that should be good every year but somehow they cant string together consecutive years of good teams. They made the cup finals 2 years ago and were a favorite to go back last year but they stumbled a bit. Hopefully this year they can get back on track. Minnesota deserves a better hockey team. The Wild are just bad. Not buffalo bad but just bad. They don't have a decent goalie, Coach isn't great and the team needs top 6 help. I see them in the bottom of the league again. Nashville, is also one of those up and down teams. But even in their down years they still manage to squeak out a good season and sneak into the playoffs. I can see them doing that again this year. St. Louis' window for being good has been shut firmly. After winning the cup they have done nothing to show the same resurgence.  I expect they will make the playoffs but look for an early exit from them. Winnipeg is the most frustrating team in this division. They are loaded with talent and they win. They win a lot. But they cant seem to win when it matters. They swept the oilers last year and they got pounded by Montreal. They should have steam rolled them. Im not sure how to predict where they will end up but i suspect they will be in the playoffs again. How far they go will be anyone's guess.

Pacific Division

Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle, Vancouver, Vegas

As i wrap up this NHL Preview i want to say that i hope everyone who reads this will comment on the blogs Facebook page with who they think will win the cup and if you have anything to add to the conversation leave that as well.

Anaheim has not been good since Gordon Bombay led the team. Im not kidding with the exception of 2007 the ducks have not really been a factor in the NHL playoff picture. I don't see them making the playoffs or really having any kind of decent season. If they win more then 30 games i will be shocked. Calgary is another one of those teams that i want to be good. I really do. They have talent, No not lucic. They have decent coaching and they seem to be right on that cusp of putting it all together. Then they implode. Bottom of the barrel in the all Canadian division last year and i suspect same thing this year with divisions back to normal. Edmonton. What to say about the Oilers. On paper and on the stat sheet they are hands down the best team in the NHL. They have the best player in the world in McDavid and his line mate Leon Draisaitl knows how to get him the puck as well as finish on his own. Those 2 guys alone should be able to win them a few playoff rounds. But for some reason that i cant figure out they never can string together anything. I know they will make the playoffs this year and i can only hope they make it past the first round. Id hate to have to compare them to Toronto in terms of not making it past round 1. Los Angeles lost their prestige long ago and I don't see them getting it back anytime soon. They have some up and coming guys but still need a few pieces to make them good again. The Sharks are a raging mess. When they signed Karlsson it was supposed to put them over that hump and get them into cup contention. But since they brought him in its been nothing short of a disaster. Now you throw in the added distraction of Evander Kane who is probably your best forward. They obviously didnt replace him in the line up but now they are left with attempting to do so until that all gets figured out. I don't see them having a good season. Vancouver tried to get better this year by signing Oliver Ekman-Larson. Will that one new guy help a team who has done next to nothing since losing to the Bruins in 2011? Maybe not but i think they wont be as bad as in years past. They might be 9-10 in the conference but will miss the playoffs for at least a few more years. I saved the 2 newest teams for last. Vegas decided to put all their eggs into to Robin Lenher basket. Not a bad thing but when your other guy wins you the vezna and you trade him without even informing him that just sets you up for bad juju. I think Vegas will compete and be good as normal this season. They should be in the top 4-5 of the conference. Finally we end with the newest NHL team. The Seattle Kraken. They didn't get as loaded of a roster as Vegas did when they came into the league but still they have a few guys with some real talent. They did also did something Vegas didn't do in its inaugural season. They named a captain. Mark Giordano. Good choice as he's probably the guy with the most experience on the team. Its always fun watching new teams and see how the rest of the league responds to them. I don't think they will have near the amount of success as Vegas did but none the less they will be fun to watch. 

Well there you have it. My NHL preview. I hope you like it and agree with it. If you don't or have suggestions please comment on the Facebook page. Also if you read this could you share it to your page. Let people know what I have. I would like to get more followers. For those that do read it all the time I appreciate your support.  

Stories from camp

 The 2021 NHL season is finally upon us. Training camps all around the league are now open with Preseason games having been played yesterday. There are so many different story lines this year that i wanted to do a training camp post before i do an NHL Preview post. Lets dive in. 

The Seattle Kraken are the leagues newest team. Having been added 2 years ago as the leagues 32nd franchise they now finally have a roster and are working hard to find the right lines and such. They opened up their camp with all the buzz a new team should have. They packed their practice facility with fans eager to see their new home town boys. Nothing crazy has happened yet at their camp but one notable thing is they played their first ever NHL contest on Sunday. It started off rocky but they battled back and ended up winning 6-4. Not a bad way to start your franchise off. Even if it was just the first pre season game. 

Buffalo. Oh sweet Buffalo. You have a generational talent in your building. Someone who has very quickly become one of the faces of the NHL and it seems like your doing everything possible to push him out the door. This whole saga with Jack Eichel started sometime last year when it was reveled he would need an operation. I don't remember all of the details but it pretty much comes down to Eichel wants to have a certain type of surgery and the Sabers want him to have a different kind. Eichel has become very vocal about it as well as vocal about the direction of the team. Fast forward to this offseason. It was all but decided that he was going to be traded away, but buffalo holding all the cards balked at the offers they were getting and requested a kings ransom for the superstar. Now with the season fast approaching Eichel still has not received the surgery he needs which has caused him to fail his entry physical and causing the Sabers to have to put him on IR. Where the sabers messed up and made this even more of a mess was after this they came out and said they were taking the C of his jersey stating that the captain "should be the heart beat of the team" Not a great choice of words for a guy who can score 60 goals with his eyes closed. When Eichel does eventually get the surgery he needs he will be out for a bit of time but i think its entirely possible that he will never play for the Sabers again and that is just sad for an organization that is trying to get out from under the black cloud that currently encircles the franchise. 

Now, I'm going to make a lot of people angry with my next take. But this needs to be said and if you don't agree well oh well. GET YOUR COVID SHOT!!!!

Detroit Red Wings Tyler Bertuzzi has come out and said he will not get his Covid shot. That he feels it violates his personal choice. Now, I don't have an issue with the reasoning. My issue lies with the general principal. You have a job in which you make millions of dollars. Your employer, in this case the NHL has decided that to further protect its league, Players, fans they are requiring everyone to be vaccinated prior to the season. That is 100% their right as a private company. If Bertuzzi or any other player decides they don't want to get it then great your contract is now void and you no longer are employed in the NHL until such a time where the vaccine is either no longer required or you decide to get the shot. If he wants to put up a stink about it the Red Wings should say fine we are suspending you without pay for conduct detrimental to the team. They have used that line for far less and in this case i don't think the NHLPA would put up much of a fight. 

Bruins camp. My favorite time of year. New guys coming in. Old guys getting comfortable and usually 1-2 good battles to watch. Jake DeBrusk is one of those battles. He had a horrible year last year that found him spending some time at the end of the bench and even on the 9th floor. He is looking to bounce back. He looks good so far and was instrumental in the win Sunday against Washington. Personally i think he is honestly on showcase mode for Boston. They are gonna play him during the pre season, show other teams what he can offer and then trade him. In my opinion he is just not the right fit for his style of play. He's gritty but not gritty enough, He's skilled but not skilled enough. Hes just not a good fit. Ill be interested to see how that turns out. 

Tuukka Rask. Boy where do i start, I don't wanna have a long drawn out thing on him so i'll just say this. Don't come back. Thank you for your service but don't come back. The Bruins signed Ullmark in the off season and with the amazing season Swayman had last year the goaltending room is all set. If they want to bring him back on that league minimum deal and stick him upstairs to consult fine. But he doesn't touch the ice. Its been too close to many times with him. It's time for him to move on. 

My next post will be a funny one about which 90's/00's Jerseys i think the NHL should bring back full time. With Arizona announcing that they are going back full time to the kachina, I think that's a great topic to discuss while camps are going on. If you have a favorite please comment and let me know. Maybe your pick will make my list. 

NFL Preview 2021

 Last night the 2021 NFL season kicked off. The Cowboys took on the defending champion Bucs. The game was actually very good. It was a shootout which i did not expect. Both Brady and Dak threw for close to 400 yards each and both threw 3 TDs with Brady getting 4 on the night. I must say i did not think the cowboys were going to make that a game but i was shockingly surprised with how well Prescott played. Brady who entered his 22nd NFL season last night looked really bad on the first drive of 3 and out. After that it was if time never moved for him. On the Bucs second drive of the night he took them about 94 yards and boom into the end zone. He spread the ball around to everyone, Gronk got a TD pass, His 100th catch from TB12. Antonio Brown had a TD score as well. Overall Last night gave me zero reason to not think that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wont be the NFC representative in the super bowl this year. Which brings me to the overall point of this post. My 2021 NFL Preview and predictions. Ill go division by division instead of team by team to make the reading a little easier. So without further ado here we go.

AFC EAST

Patriots, Dolphins, Jets, Bills 

For 20 years the Pats dominated this division from start to finish. Last year with out TB12 and with Cam Newton at the helm the pats missed the playoffs. This year they have turned to rookie Mac Jones. I think their time as a dominant team in the division is winding down. However this year could see them as the AFC east champs. As normal the Jets are trash. They let Sam Darnold  go Carolina and have already named Zach Wilson the week 1 starter. Without a decent offense and with no defense to speak of id look to see the jets maybe win 4 games and finish last in the division. The Bills and Dolphins will be the 2 teams that are going to give the pats a run for their money this year. Defending AFC champion Bills are back and ready for another successful season behind QB Josh Allen. Add a healthy Stefon Diggs to his arsenal of weapons and i can see the bills winning 11-12 games and being top in the division for most of the year. Those 2 games against New England might actually have some meaning to it. The Dolphins have decided to go all in on second year QB Tua Tagovailoa. They really are putting all their eggs in his basket too as they let Ryan Fitzpatrick walk away to the Washington Football Team. I don't see the Dolphins winning much more then 6 or 7 games but as i mentioned they could be a thorn in the side of the Bills and Pats. I would say that 2-4 of those wins will come against the Pats and Bills making it much harder to pick whos going to take the division crown.

Prediction- Pats win division

AFC NORTH

Ravens, Bengals, Browns, Steelers

This In my opinion will be the most fun division to watch. The Steelers just re signed defensive star TJ Watt and Big Ben came into camp looking much slimmer and much more agile. Keep in mind they did go 11-0 to start the year last season before epically falling off a cliff. Baltimore seems like the favorite to win this division and with the continued success of Lamar Jackson they should have no problem keeping up with Pittsburgh early on. The Browns are the dark horse of this division. 3 years ago the city of Cleveland was just hoping for the team to win a game. My how far they have come. Baker Mayfield who i think most thought was just going to be another cog in the revolving QB door in Cleveland has emerged as one of the premier QB in the league and he will lead the browns to great things but unfortunately for him those great things may be capped off at winning records rather then playoff appearances. That leaves the cross state Bengals left on this list. Coming off an Torn ACL 2nd year QB Joe Burrow is looking to bounce back and led the Bengals back to the 8-8 record they have come to know and love. They improved the O-line a little bit to hopefully keep Burrow off his back as much this year but they forgot to go get him decent targets or even a fraction of a defense. I see them winning about 5 games all year. 

Prediction-Steelers win division

AFC SOUTH

Texans, Colts, Jaguars, Titans

The AFC South is in my opinion the second worst division in the NFL. There is just nothing of value here. The Titans ran away with the division last year behind a career resurgence from Ryan Tannehill. Add to that the freakish strength of Derek Henry and i see no reason why the Titans don't run away early with this one. The Colts are still trying to find a new identity after Andrew Luck retired. They went out this off season and signed Carson Wentz. Knowing his history with injuries i don't see this working as a long term option for them.  Jacksonville is on my crap list simply for bringing in and then cutting Tim Tebow. I'm still bitter. But they have a great future with Trevor Lawrence having let Gardner Minshew walk away this off season. There will be some learning curves and I'm sure some bumps in the road but i think in 2 years the Jags will be competing for the division. Houston is almost not worth mentioning because they are such a train wreck. JJ Watt did all he could on that defense and it still wasn't enough so he had no choice but to leave. Tyrod Taylor was named the starter which seems like a step in the right direction but without Deandre Hopkins or really anyone to throw to this may just be a season long work out for him to show the other NFL teams he can still play.

Prediction-Tennessee wins division 

AFC WEST

Broncos, Chiefs, Raiders, Chargers

Rounding out the AFC i think i may have misspoke when i said earlier that the AFC south is the second worst division. This one would give it a run for its money. The Broncos have the feel good story with Teddy Bridgewater assuming duties under center this year. Jon Gruden and the raiders get a new stadium this year and a name change as they have moved the Las Vegas And the chargers are still playing in a converted soccer stadium. The chiefs are the best team in the entire AFC and are going to have this division wrapped up by Thanksgiving. 

Prediction- Kansas City and its not even close. 

NFC EAST

Cowboys, Giants, Eagles, Redskins

This is hands down the worst division in all of pro football. Which is sad because i think the Cowboys have at least on paper one of the best teams in football. How they cant string it together is just beyond me. The opening night loss to the Bucs may be an L but damn they took Tampa to the brink. One or two calls the other way and Brady has his first ever loss to Dallas. The Giants only news worthy story of this season is going to be when they retire Strahan's number later in the season. Philadelphia is an interesting story. They have 2 solid Quarterbacks. Jalen Hurts who no doubt will be the starter but he is being backed up by Gardner Minshew. Jalen has a history of injuries so it wouldn't surprise me if  Minshew sees a bit more time then originally planned. Washington Football Team signed journeyman and resident beard god of the NFL Ryan Fitzpatrick in the off season. This makes the 276th NFL team he has played for. Fitzmagic is always good for a fast start and maybe a 4-4 split before the season goes off the rails. Id say look to see something similar. 

Prediction- Cowboys win division

NFC NORTH

Bears, Lions, Packers, Vikings

For some reason this one has been oddly competitive over the years in terms of second place. The packers are once again set up to win the division seeing as that Aaron Rogers is back and hes got the team to sign some of his favorite people to shut him up. They wont compete for the super bowl by a long shot but they will win the division. Chicago has a very good QB battle on their hands. Do they go with and stick with Andy Dalton? Or do they go to Justin Fields? Fans in Chi-Town seems to have made it clear that they want the rookie. That is gonna be fun to watch. The Lions are...well the Lions. They will play on thanksgiving but that will be the highlight of their season. 

Prediction-Packers win division

NFC SOUTH

Falcons, Panthers, Saints, Buccaneers

Tampa Bay returned all 22 starters from the Super Bowl. They went out on opening night and somehow looked even better then last year. With a full year for Antonio Brown and if Gronk stays healthy i would be shocked if they don't repeat as Super Bowl Champs. Atlanta is once again going to be the train wreck of this division. I said it last year and ill say it again this year. Its time to move on from Matt Ryan. Carolina went out and got a shiny new QB in Sam Darnold. Just kidding he came from the Jets and hes going to be horrible. McCaffrey needs to jump ship fast before he wastes all his talent on a team going no where fast. New Orleans will have to start a season for the first time in almost 20 years without Drew Brees under center. Last year the thinking was that Taysom Hill would fill that role while they looked for someone better. Then they signed Jameis Winston. Once the Bucs got Brady there wasn't a snowballs chance in hell that Winston would ever touch the field for Tampa again. He signed on with New Orleans and shocked many by his quick learning of the playbook. He fought and won the starting role this year. He could lead them to a wild card spot but probably no further.

Prediction-Tampa Bay wins it all! 

NFC WEST

Cardinals, 49ers, Seahawks, Rams

Finishing up my 2021 NFL Preview we end with the NFC west. I remember years ago the Seahawks one this division with an 8-8 record. Long gone are those days. Arizona signed JJ Watt and Deandre Hopkins in the off season to give Kyler Murray help on both sides of the ball. Adding Watt to Chandler Jones sounds like a great idea but remember, Houston's defense at one point had JJ Watt, Jadeveon Clowney and Vince Wilfork, they still couldn't win. Perhaps this will be different but i think you need more then just really good edge rushers to have a successful season. San Francisco spent most of the off season quashing rumors that it was sending Jimmy G back to New England. They did not do much in terms of upgrading the team and will most likely miss the playoffs this season. Seattle will always be a tough team to determine their season because they are very streaky. If Wilson can string together a few good games in a row they can be a very dangerous team. But that hasn't happened in a while. They will get their home wins as usual because i do believe they have the hardest stadium to play in even when the team isn't doing good. Finally the Rams are the Rams. They caught a little fire the year they made the super bowl but have since fizzled out and will stay that way for a while. Jalen Ramsey thinks hes the best corner in the game but when your team is giving up 25-30-40 points each week it doesn't matter how good you think you are. 

Prediction-Arizona wins division

Hopefully you have stuck with me through this prediction blog. I'm planning on doing one for each sport as they start so look forward to those. If you disagree with any of my predictions or think i hit the nail on the head leave a comment on the blogs Facebook page and let me know. 

As always i appreciate the support. Thanks